Worlds 2022 Play-in Recap
The Play-In Stage of Worlds 2022 was ablast! I hope you had as much fun as I did watching it. We had some good (EG isthrough baby!!) and some bad (RIP Chiefs and IW 0-5); we had some exciting (RNGvs DRX what a game!) and some boring (EG ROFL stomp of MAD); we had some awesome pocket picks (Zac MID?? Mordekaiser??) and some… less awesome (GALA’s Nilah). Let’s take a moment to reflect back on what was a very fun weekend of games.
The Results
The group stage finished as follows:
As it was, the most important games of each group came in the first day of action. Evil Geniuses of NA and Fnatic of EU clashed in a game that was sure to decide the group – and behind a huge botlane performance from the freshly landed Upset and temporary sub Rhuckz (and some questionable EG drafting), they handily took down EG, giving them a huge upper hand in the group. In group B, DRX of Korea and RNG of China had an epic battle, as DRX narrowly achieved victory in a 42 minute thriller highlighted by Deft’s Tristana and Zeka’s Akali.
Group A continued in chaos as Fnatic dropped a game to LOUD gaming of Brazil, giving a EG a chance to earn a tie breaker game to win the group. EG then promptly dropped a game to DetonationFocusMe of Japan, dropping them out of contention to win the group and forcing them into a 3 way tie to fight for second in the group. However, they clutched up behind extraordinary performances from the solo laners Impact and Jojopyun (both with solo kills pre- 8 minutes!) to beat both LOUD and DFM and takesecond in the group.
Group B continued according to script, with no upsets to be found. The Saigon Buffalo made noise with outstanding teamfighting and wild picks (Froggy picked Zac mid!?!). MAD Lions got off to a hot start going 2-0 and gave RNG everything they could handle before eventually falling. DRX showed Korea’s dominance with mid laner Zeka styling all over their opponents on their way to a perfect 5-0 record.
The Best of 5’s were exciting as well, with the first day featuring DFM’s 3-1 win over LOUD Gaming and Mad Lions’ 3-1win over the Saigon Buffalo. Both series were exciting, with teamfights that kept you on the edge of your seat. Day 2 brought the highly anticipated series between EG and MAD Lions – but it did not live up to the hype, with NA beating EU for the FIRST TIME EVER in a Best of5, sweeping in dominant fashion. Inspired showed why he’s the only player toever win MVP in two different major regions, and super-sub Kaori proved he belongs on this stage with very solid performances. In the other series, DFM gave RNG a big scare by taking game one and having a sizeable lead in game 2(on a scaling comp even!) before RNG woke up and crushed the rest of the series. Breathe outplayed many a 1v2 situation, and the superior macro and teamfighting of RNG really showed through.
In all, the group stage was a ton of fun, and I think the 4 best teams emerged. Almost every year, a team from the play-in stage makes it through groups into the knockout stage. Will one make itthis year? Does NA or EU have a chance to make it through? We shall see!!
Fantasy Results
The Fantasy scoring for the play-in stage truly went according to script, with RNG and DRX players topping the charts innearly every position. These players were the most highly picked for a reason,and almost all of them came through. That being said, there were some real sleepers and busts in this slate!
MVP’s
The top ten performing players were asfollows:
1. RNG Breathe 87.4
2. DRX Zeka 87.22
3. RNG Gala 86.6
4. DRX Deft 79.52
5. RNG Wei 79.4
6. FNC Upset 79.1
7. RNG Xaiohu 77.9
8. DRX Kingen 76
9. EG Impact 74.3
10. DFM Yutapon 73.4
A few things stick out here. First, is that many of the expected subjects landed in the top 10 list. If you listened to the E-GO podcast, where I joined SnakeBaby and Coach Dmann, you heard CoachDman strongly recommend Breathe to be put in your lineup. What a call! (And thanks Coach Dman – that last second change was huge for me!) If you listened in to my League of (fantasy) Legends Podcast episode, where I was joined by the E-GO app’s own Isak Hakansson, you heard strong recommendations for RNG Gala (great call), as well as DRX Kingen (good) and EG Kaori (just ok).
Top Lane
1. RNG Breathe 87.4
2. DRX Kingen 76.02
3. EG Impact 74.3
4. FNC Wunder 72.2
5. MAD Armut 70.9
As mentioned in the podcast, top laners were expected to be the highest scoring players, based on the scoring system. This did not disappoint, with the top scoring player overall being a top laner,and top laners having the second highest average score. Breathe was definitely the call here, but if you wanted value, EG Impact was a great pick, finishingas the 3rd best top laner with a significantly lower price.
Jungle
1. RNG Wei 79.4
2. MAD Elyoya 71.3
3. FNC Razork 69,2
4. EG Inspired 66.8
5. DRX Pyosik 66.4
Junglers, with their lower average farm numbers and lower kill counts, ended up as the second lowest scoring position. Once again, it was RNG coming out on top, with Wei taking the highest scoring spot behind a few Graves games. The sleeper in the jungle position (and potentially the most important pick overall) was Elyoya, surprisingly finishing as the second highest scoring jungler. His low cost really brought the lineup together for those of you smart enough to predict this performance. The big surprise here was Pyosik from DRX, finishing as the 5th highestscoring jungler despite a 5-0 record. He was more than happy to let his midlaner Zeka take the resources, and Zeka did a great job of carrying games with those resources, as we’ll see next.
Mid
1. DRX Zeka 87.22
2. RNG Xaiohu 77.9
3. FNC Humanoid 68.74
4. MAD Nisqy 66
5. DFM Yaharong 64.7
The mid lane rankings were particularlytop heavy compared to other positions. It ended up as the 3rd highest scoring role on average, significantly lower than both bot and top. We know how great Zeka was. Jojopyun of EG didn’t make the top 5 (6that 62.8), despite a few really flashy games. There were a handful of players that were all serviceable, but no real price values. It was certainly the rightcall here to spend up for the top players.
ADC
1. RNG Gala 86.6
2. DRX Deft 79.5
3. FNC Upset 79.1
4. DFM Yutapon 73.4
5. MAD Unforgiven 70.3
The bot lane had a few players finish high, that many did not expect. While GALA at #1 and Deft at #2 is no surprise, not many had FNC Upset finishing this high (and at his relatively high price,he was not highly owned.) It was nothing short of an incredible performance from him, considering his last minute arrival, his lack of practice time, and his probable jet lag. DFM Yutapon was the other surprise sleeper pick of the tournament, finishing fourth despite his low price tag. My favorite pick EGKaori just missed the top 5, finishing 0.4 behind Unforgiven (6th at 69.9). While spending up here was certainly not a bad call, some values could be found at this spot.
Support
1. RNG Ming 68.9
2. DRX Beryl 61.3
3. FNC Hylissang 56.8
4. EG Vulcan 55.9
5. DFM Harp 52.1
The support standings almost exactly mirror the overall standings, with only DRX and RNG players being switched. This goes to show that specifically for support (even more than normal), it is critically important that you find a player on a winning team, especially a team that likes to fight (like the LPL!) Being the lowest scoring overallposition (by a significant margin), and without the scoring buffer of pointsfrom farming, they are very reliant on team points. Ensure that your support infuture rounds comes from a winning team.
The Leader!
The winning lineup, belonging to Johnmes, looks like:
RNG Breathe
MAD Elyoya
DRX Zeka
FNC Upset
RNG Ming
With a grand total of 436.8 points (including captain points,) he picked a phenomenal lineup, hitting the top scoring player in top, mid, and support, along with the best value in the tournament in jungle and a solid ADC. Johnmes – keep your guard up, because the rest of usare coming after you!
Keep up to date with the latest Worlds and NA fantasy content by following me on Twitter
Join the Fantasy League of Legends Community in our discord
And listen to the League of (fantasy) Legends Podcast on Spotify or on your preferred podcast app.
The Results
The group stage finished as follows:
As it was, the most important games of each group came in the first day of action. Evil Geniuses of NA and Fnatic of EU clashed in a game that was sure to decide the group – and behind a huge botlane performance from the freshly landed Upset and temporary sub Rhuckz (and some questionable EG drafting), they handily took down EG, giving them a huge upper hand in the group. In group B, DRX of Korea and RNG of China had an epic battle, as DRX narrowly achieved victory in a 42 minute thriller highlighted by Deft’s Tristana and Zeka’s Akali.
Group A continued in chaos as Fnatic dropped a game to LOUD gaming of Brazil, giving a EG a chance to earn a tie breaker game to win the group. EG then promptly dropped a game to DetonationFocusMe of Japan, dropping them out of contention to win the group and forcing them into a 3 way tie to fight for second in the group. However, they clutched up behind extraordinary performances from the solo laners Impact and Jojopyun (both with solo kills pre- 8 minutes!) to beat both LOUD and DFM and takesecond in the group.
Group B continued according to script, with no upsets to be found. The Saigon Buffalo made noise with outstanding teamfighting and wild picks (Froggy picked Zac mid!?!). MAD Lions got off to a hot start going 2-0 and gave RNG everything they could handle before eventually falling. DRX showed Korea’s dominance with mid laner Zeka styling all over their opponents on their way to a perfect 5-0 record.
The Best of 5’s were exciting as well, with the first day featuring DFM’s 3-1 win over LOUD Gaming and Mad Lions’ 3-1win over the Saigon Buffalo. Both series were exciting, with teamfights that kept you on the edge of your seat. Day 2 brought the highly anticipated series between EG and MAD Lions – but it did not live up to the hype, with NA beating EU for the FIRST TIME EVER in a Best of5, sweeping in dominant fashion. Inspired showed why he’s the only player toever win MVP in two different major regions, and super-sub Kaori proved he belongs on this stage with very solid performances. In the other series, DFM gave RNG a big scare by taking game one and having a sizeable lead in game 2(on a scaling comp even!) before RNG woke up and crushed the rest of the series. Breathe outplayed many a 1v2 situation, and the superior macro and teamfighting of RNG really showed through.
In all, the group stage was a ton of fun, and I think the 4 best teams emerged. Almost every year, a team from the play-in stage makes it through groups into the knockout stage. Will one make itthis year? Does NA or EU have a chance to make it through? We shall see!!
Fantasy Results
The Fantasy scoring for the play-in stage truly went according to script, with RNG and DRX players topping the charts innearly every position. These players were the most highly picked for a reason,and almost all of them came through. That being said, there were some real sleepers and busts in this slate!
MVP’s
The top ten performing players were asfollows:
1. RNG Breathe 87.4
2. DRX Zeka 87.22
3. RNG Gala 86.6
4. DRX Deft 79.52
5. RNG Wei 79.4
6. FNC Upset 79.1
7. RNG Xaiohu 77.9
8. DRX Kingen 76
9. EG Impact 74.3
10. DFM Yutapon 73.4
A few things stick out here. First, is that many of the expected subjects landed in the top 10 list. If you listened to the E-GO podcast, where I joined SnakeBaby and Coach Dmann, you heard CoachDman strongly recommend Breathe to be put in your lineup. What a call! (And thanks Coach Dman – that last second change was huge for me!) If you listened in to my League of (fantasy) Legends Podcast episode, where I was joined by the E-GO app’s own Isak Hakansson, you heard strong recommendations for RNG Gala (great call), as well as DRX Kingen (good) and EG Kaori (just ok).
Top Lane
1. RNG Breathe 87.4
2. DRX Kingen 76.02
3. EG Impact 74.3
4. FNC Wunder 72.2
5. MAD Armut 70.9
As mentioned in the podcast, top laners were expected to be the highest scoring players, based on the scoring system. This did not disappoint, with the top scoring player overall being a top laner,and top laners having the second highest average score. Breathe was definitely the call here, but if you wanted value, EG Impact was a great pick, finishingas the 3rd best top laner with a significantly lower price.
Jungle
1. RNG Wei 79.4
2. MAD Elyoya 71.3
3. FNC Razork 69,2
4. EG Inspired 66.8
5. DRX Pyosik 66.4
Junglers, with their lower average farm numbers and lower kill counts, ended up as the second lowest scoring position. Once again, it was RNG coming out on top, with Wei taking the highest scoring spot behind a few Graves games. The sleeper in the jungle position (and potentially the most important pick overall) was Elyoya, surprisingly finishing as the second highest scoring jungler. His low cost really brought the lineup together for those of you smart enough to predict this performance. The big surprise here was Pyosik from DRX, finishing as the 5th highestscoring jungler despite a 5-0 record. He was more than happy to let his midlaner Zeka take the resources, and Zeka did a great job of carrying games with those resources, as we’ll see next.
Mid
1. DRX Zeka 87.22
2. RNG Xaiohu 77.9
3. FNC Humanoid 68.74
4. MAD Nisqy 66
5. DFM Yaharong 64.7
The mid lane rankings were particularlytop heavy compared to other positions. It ended up as the 3rd highest scoring role on average, significantly lower than both bot and top. We know how great Zeka was. Jojopyun of EG didn’t make the top 5 (6that 62.8), despite a few really flashy games. There were a handful of players that were all serviceable, but no real price values. It was certainly the rightcall here to spend up for the top players.
ADC
1. RNG Gala 86.6
2. DRX Deft 79.5
3. FNC Upset 79.1
4. DFM Yutapon 73.4
5. MAD Unforgiven 70.3
The bot lane had a few players finish high, that many did not expect. While GALA at #1 and Deft at #2 is no surprise, not many had FNC Upset finishing this high (and at his relatively high price,he was not highly owned.) It was nothing short of an incredible performance from him, considering his last minute arrival, his lack of practice time, and his probable jet lag. DFM Yutapon was the other surprise sleeper pick of the tournament, finishing fourth despite his low price tag. My favorite pick EGKaori just missed the top 5, finishing 0.4 behind Unforgiven (6th at 69.9). While spending up here was certainly not a bad call, some values could be found at this spot.
Support
1. RNG Ming 68.9
2. DRX Beryl 61.3
3. FNC Hylissang 56.8
4. EG Vulcan 55.9
5. DFM Harp 52.1
The support standings almost exactly mirror the overall standings, with only DRX and RNG players being switched. This goes to show that specifically for support (even more than normal), it is critically important that you find a player on a winning team, especially a team that likes to fight (like the LPL!) Being the lowest scoring overallposition (by a significant margin), and without the scoring buffer of pointsfrom farming, they are very reliant on team points. Ensure that your support infuture rounds comes from a winning team.
The Leader!
The winning lineup, belonging to Johnmes, looks like:
RNG Breathe
MAD Elyoya
DRX Zeka
FNC Upset
RNG Ming
With a grand total of 436.8 points (including captain points,) he picked a phenomenal lineup, hitting the top scoring player in top, mid, and support, along with the best value in the tournament in jungle and a solid ADC. Johnmes – keep your guard up, because the rest of usare coming after you!
Keep up to date with the latest Worlds and NA fantasy content by following me on Twitter
Join the Fantasy League of Legends Community in our discord
And listen to the League of (fantasy) Legends Podcast on Spotify or on your preferred podcast app.
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